Ca' Loredan (abbreviation for Palazzo Corner Piscopia, Loredan) is a Venetian palace, located in the San Marco district and overlooking the Grand Canal, not far from the Rialto Bridge. It is the seat, together with the adjacent Ca' Farsetti, of the town hall of the lagoon city.
Ca' Loredan was founded in the 13th century as a Venetian-Byzantine warehouse for the Boccasi family, which died out in the 15th century. According to some historians, it became the residence of Doge Jacopo Contarini after he retired to private life and passed to the Zane family. In the following centuries it was heavily expanded and modified by the Cornaro Piscopia family, who took possession of it during the 14th century according to the will of Federico Corner, the richest merchant of his time: the heaviest restructuring was carried out during the 16th century. In 1646 Elena Lucrezia Cornaro was born here, a philosopher who went down in history for being the first female graduate in history: she received this title on 25 June 1678. The event, which had a vast international echo, is commemorated by a marble plaque bearing a 'registration. In 1703 it became the residence of the Loredans, who obtained it thanks to a marriage between a daughter of Girolamo Corner and Giovanni Battista Loredan. It became the property of the Countess Campagna Peccana in 1806 and was transformed into a hotel. In 1867 it passed to the municipality of Venice and became the town hall together with Ca' Farsetti: new renovations heavily altered its original plan.
Palazzo Loredan is a building whose oldest nucleus is in the Venetian-Byzantine style, being among the buildings on the Grand Canal that most retain traces of it despite the renovations. The central ground floor has a portico enclosed by five raised arches, supported by four Corinthian columns, above which, on the piano nobile, is a heptaphor (seven windows) in the same style. On both sides of the portico, symmetrically, there are two round windows, which correspond to a trifora on the main floor. This opening is closed by mostly circular Byzantine decorations. The second noble floor, which although later tries to emulate the style of the first, is characterized by a large central mullioned window, which is echoed by the lateral single-lancet windows. The building, whose right side is characterized by the presence of numerous single lancet windows and the earth portal, is distinguished by the fact that it has four flyovers which connect it to Ca' Farsetti. At the back, it has a long courtyard that separates the two secondary wings: numerous arched openings overlook it and it houses various well curbs. The main floor contains the Council Hall, which houses works of art by Benedetto Caliari, Gregorio Lazzarini, Bonifacio Veronese.